Ohio whitetail outfitter recommendations
General Topic
Contributors to this thread:
I'm planning a trip to Ohio for November of 2015.. I live and hunt in VT and have decided that at this point it's time to start hunting out of state also.. Was hoping some of you know of some solid outfitters in Ohio... looking for lodging and semiguided, and of course, huge bucks.. I appreciate your input... Thanks..
DIY Outfitters Inc. :-)
Tall Tine
Mule Power, What impressed you about those outfitters? Can you elaborate a little bit.. I appreciate your time..
Thanks for the thread, been wondering myself. Hopefully there will be some real, good answers on here.
If you're serious about killing big Ohio whitetails....Joel Snow 5 Star Trophy Outfitters. If you can get a spot with him that is.....Top of the food chain !
I've seen a few of the deer they kill. But mainly I just know the potential for the county and area they have leases in. There are monsters over there. I have a buddy who's been trying to connect on a 200+ typical. He has the sheds from the last 2 years to prove it. I'd first decide on the area I wanted to hunt and then I'd see who outfits that area.
Check out Wide Rack Outfitters, There a Bowsite sponsor. I've hunted with them the last 5 years and had great success. Mike runs a 1st class operation.
This guy operates in the same area I hunt. Triple B outfitters..
ohio bow outfitters..Bill Pyles is a good guy works hard. Always sending trail cam pics and updates.
Wide rack seems like a good operation based on the 50 reviews and web site.
If you are interested in a DIY bow hunt, Ohio has a ton of public lands that offer real deal trophy hunting. My buddy and I have driven there from PA many times and arrowed several bucks over 150". We always see a couple Booners on our 4 day trips. I had a 190"+ at 15yds and we blew it because we were trying to video the shot. "Camera guy" moved a little too much. Over the counter license. Turks all over too. Good luck, Dan
Take extra care when picking an Ohio outfitter, there seems to be more novice outfitters than you see in some of the other Midwest states. I am sure there are some real good ones but is seems it is pretty easy to be an outfitter in Ohio as they don't have a lot of requirements.
Rick M, that is priceless advice. Lots of my buddies have been smoked on outfitted hunts in Ohio. Lots of clowns out there running groups thru their 400 acre farm for 8-10wks straight. Can't tell ya how many times I've heard this story: "Saw big bucks in the dark crossing in front of the truck on the way in and out, but never during shooting hours".
Book wisely.
PA-50
You are always seeing Booners on public land on 4 day hunts??????. WOW.
I bet you were fit to be tied after blowing a 190 at 15 yards just so you could get it on film. that has to be a pretty terrible feeling.
Spend a few weekends in the spring or summer and drive around talking to farmers!
It will save you thousands of dollars! Almost any big farmer wants the deer killed they are a liability to their operation!
In one weekend in Brown County my wifes uncles and I got over 10K acres to hunt all private. LOL We never hunted one parcel?
When you do go out have a resume that staes where you live, a liabiltiy waiver, do not show up wearing camo and do not show up the week before hunting season looking for permission!!!
You don't hire an outfitter in Ohio just to kill a deer (hopefully). You do it to get a chance at a much bigger buck. Be honest about that. Therefore, how does the outfitter perform on big bucks year in and year out? There are a lot of questions you can ask, and many ways to ask them. An outfitter can find many ways to answer them so to slant things in his favor.
If an outfitter takes 20 bowhunters per season on average and produces 3 really good bucks per season on average...are you willing to spend the thousands with him for a 15% chance that you'll get lucky?
If you're paying good money to have a great time, fun hunt and maybe see a big buck, you can do that on your own. A good whitetail outfitter should be able to provide statistics which prove his ability to put big deer in front of a high percentage of his clients. You wouldn't send your kids to a beautiful and expensive college where they only graduated 25% of the students.
Serious homework is in order.
There are some not so good outfitters in Ohio....like mentioned, alot of people using family land to put a bunch of hunters on without much experience.
Anyways, I agree to an extent with what Kelly said....you can find properties to hunt, but it's not like it used to be 10+ years ago. You used to be able to get permission from about all the places you asked, anymore I would say its much closer to 5% of the places in my experience. Alot of properties are either leased already, have people on them already, or the landowner hunts it or doesnt allow hunting at all.
I will be out there trying in a month to gain access....I will be happy if I get a couple properties of the 60 I have on my list.
The 3 most important questions you have to answer are:
1. How much time do you have to devote to the hunt?
2. What are your expectations? Size of deer you are looking to take.
3. What is your budget?
With all that has been said, Rick M offers some nice hunts. Lol Book wisely.
DJ
If you want a dink or doe:) Do your homework if you are going guided in Ohio.
Wow... Lots of good advice.. I've been emailing various outfitters over the last couple of weeks. Some sound like bs, some sound honest.. Being from VT, I will not have time to come down to gain permission at various farms.. so I'm going to have to throw down some $$$ for a solid hunt for a good buck. But I'm ok with that.. It's a vacation.. so lodging and meals would be nice too... I've narrowed it down to 4-5 outfitters... I appreciate your responses... thanks gang.
Bou'bound, just catching up with this thread. Allow me to elaborate. Yes, we have seen true Booners on every trip to Ohio(8 trips), most on public land. I have video of a bunch. It was not uncommon to pass on 4-5 bucks a day out there if the rut was on. To be clear, some of the public lands(tens of thousands of acres) out there are reclaimed strip mines that lay out like Kansas prairie land. So if you have the right tree stand location or a hill and some quality binos, you can see a good ways. Even though our trips were usually only 4 days of rut hunting(many kids between us), I always did a weekend summer scouting trip.
As far as the 190", it was 4-5yrs ago and not a week goes by when I don't think about him. I hunted and guided in Illinois for 10+ yrs and saw a ton of monster bucks, many that still haunt me. But this Ohio buck was a dream, oak ridge running monster. Crazy mass, crazy tall typical 10pt frame with trash all over and split brows, and a crazy 300lb body to match. Every whitetail hunters dream buck. As far as videoing it, its the biggest mistake of my hunting career. My partner DV had shot a gorgeous 150s 10pt the first morning we were there on the public land. So as we always did, if one of us tagged out, we jumped on the camera. Through a friend, I had hooked up with a small private farm that attached to the public land we hunted. We decided to hunt a set I had put up in August. Lady luck shined and I blind rattled this buck in around 1130hrs on a super quiet morning. We always hunt all day out there. It was really cool cause we heard him coming for a minute or two before I saw him. When he dropped off this huge oak ridge, he circled down hill but the slight wind was still right. DV was in a tree 10yds in front of me and couldn't see the buck coming from downhill and behind him. When DV saw me stand up with my bow in hand, he knew it was going down. Just as the buck started up the hill to us, DV stood up in his stand so he could turn with the camera. The buck locked up and stared up in our direction. I instantly knew it was over. Looking back, I think we were sky lit by a field that was behind and uphill from us. That buck stood there for over five minutes and never flicked an ear. I think he heard my heart thumping. When he broke, he actually trotted right to us and although he passed at 15yds and I was drawn, I just couldn't chance a moving shot at a buck like that. DV did get a couple seconds of video of him. Its shaky and blurry but anyone who has seen it has stuttered in amazement. That buck was cover of North American Whitetail material. I made two shed hunting trips that winter in an attempt to salvage at least a dropped antler from this awesome experience. Rolled snake eyes. Although it was a privilege just to see a buck like that, truth is he will haunt me til my dying day. Hope I didn't type too much. Have a good one.
Ohio outfitters.....Ouch, not much value there. Good luck finding one that isnt running 60-80 guys though their camp each season.
A true typical "Booner" would net 170 and a non-typical would net 195. Net or gross, most hunters won't see either in a lifetime. Filming a bunch of them outside of a high fence is quite an accomplishment.
I'm going with Wide Rack this coming November. They come well recommended, and the price is reasonable.
That and the guide is a traditional bowhunter, so he knows how to get you close.
TBB
I've narrowed it down to a few final outfitters.. Brushyfork, Tall Tine or Ohio Rut-n-Strut.. there are a couple of others that have my attention also.. Anyone have any thoughts on the above outfitters.. Thanks.
I've narrowed it down to a few final outfitters.. Brushy Fork, Tall Tine or Ohio Rut-n-Strut.. there are a couple of others that have my attention also.. Anyone have any thoughts on the above outfitters..? Thanks.